


Crystal Clear

by KyaKishinuma



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Love, Love at First Sight, Soldiers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:09:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29538012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyaKishinuma/pseuds/KyaKishinuma
Summary: "Every smile, engraved deep into his mind. Every laugh, like an angel's sent straight from heaven. Every wink, sweet and tempting like a cute cupcake.If it hadn't been the Force's will for them to meet, he didn't know what was.He had just barely completed his basic training at the time..."Cute Hardcase x Reader oneshot!
Relationships: Hardcase (Star Wars) & Reader, Hardcase (Star Wars)/Reader
Kudos: 2





	Crystal Clear

It was a perfect love, an unreal love, a love straight from a fairytale. The type of love everyone dreamed of, the type of love that felt like it was all a dream.

Every smile, engraved deep into his mind. Every laugh, like an angel's sent straight from heaven. Every wink, sweet and tempting like a cute cupcake.

If it hadn't been the Force's will for them to meet, he didn't know was.

He had just barely completed his basic training at the time. An ordinary shiny who, much like any other, was eager to put his skills to the test, to go and fight as he had been conceived to do. 

Just like his squadmates, his first days out of the facility were spent staring at the stars and the planets and the systems their starship streaked past, amazed. For a man who had only seen gleaming sweat, thudding rain and bland walls for the past ten years, such things were simply so beautiful, so... Real. For once, his hyperactivity wasn't a bother as it usually would be, calling for him to go do some foolish prank. He just gaped, and gasped, and pointed, excitement all over his face as he'd prompt his new leader, Rex, to come and take a look. The blonde would roll his eyes at this, having long, long ago gotten accustomed to the sight. Nevertheless, unable to help being drawn by the rookies' contagious agitation, he'd scoot into what little space remained on the bench next to the tiny round window and would secretly smile at his men's fretting over what they saw. He'd ocasionally speak up to tell the rookies about a mission he'd done on that planet or system, hoping they'd learn something from his story.

By the time his stargazing phase was over, Hardcase had cut his hair completely to give way to his dream tattoo, blue, his unit's colour, and going from his head and face all the way down his back, and timidly sneaking in onto his torso and stomach as well. Out on the field, uniformity regulations weren't half as strict as they had been back on Kamino, and the shiny was more than proud to have his own unique look now, adding to how special he already was with his hyperactivity. 

When they landed on the planet for the Recom mission, he was still completely enamoured with the marine lines snaking along his spine.

Although he wouldn't be so for much longer. For something else would catch his eye.

The first thing the team did was take the resources out and pop them open for the eager, starved citizens that had gathered around, cheering and crying in joy. The Republic had finally come to help them. The Clone Troopers were their heroes. 

Getting rations snatched right out of his hands by kids had initially startled the young soldier, but as Hardcase blankly watched them run back to their parents with the food in hand, holding it up triumphantly as they jumped and squealed and laughed, he was quick to relax, giving off a faint smile. He had never seen someone be so happy, and there was a warm feeling to his heart knowing he had partially contributed to that happiness. Perhaps his brothers in arms and he had whined that their first mission was not on the battlefield, but he couldn't deny that helping those in need didn't feel so bad. 

The miserable, hollow-cheeked population had gathered around them, circling them completely like swaying skeletons as they came dangerously close to trampling one another to get closer to the resources. Ultimately, Rex stood prominently and put order to the whole mess, getting them to form a line and promising each one of them would get their supplies.

The distributions were handed out, and the task went smoothly. After about an hour, the place was stranded. The Torrent Company could finally breathe and, in certain cases, recover from surprise hugs and kisses of gratitude. The men weren't used to such affection. Hardcase, for his part, had been spared of such gestures, and he was certainly grateful, judging how pink his teammate Echo's cheeks had gotten. 

Seeing as the empty boxes would no longer be needed, the men started packing them to place them back into the ship in order to get them out of the way. Afterwards, they'd proceed with their next task.

Yet, as the hyperactive man leaned down and swiftly picked up what had been his post, he felt incoming footsteps. Confusion washed over him. All the citizens had headed back to their homes to prepare their rations after receiving them.

He glanced up, his eyes scanning the situation quickly. 

It was... A girl. No, a young woman. Her face was flushed like a tomato, her pants strained and loud as she ran over to them. It looked more like she was dragging herself along. Bits of her (h/c) locks stuck to her sweaty forehead, and she absently brushed them aside, even though more bangs came to replace them. Hardcase barely identified (e/c) eyes through the gasping mess that the newcomer was. She must've been running for a fair while.

Only once she reached them did she grant herself the right to stop running, bending over with her hands upon her unsteady knees as she fought to get her breath back. However, that was short-lived as she hurriedly snapped her head back up, a hint of distress to her quivering tone as she cried, "A-Am I too late!?"

The clones exchanged a sombre glance. How could they have anticipated this missing girl? Everything had been handed out.

ARC Trooper Fives ended up being the one to break the news to the poor woman, unable to meet her gaze. "We're... Sorry, Ma'am."

Her eyes opened wide at this, glossing over with tears as her lip quivered weakly. Hardcase felt an icy spear of sadness pierce his young heart. 

He, much like his brothers, could only watch as the girl's shaking worsened, her body failing her as she weakly slumped against the tree she was standing next to. Her shoulders trembled once, twice. And then, her legs bucked underneath her, making her plop down on the ground as she leaned against the tree. She curled up into a ball, making her seem so small and frail. She hid her face into her arms, her messy (h/c) hair falling over her knees and legs to shield her face as the weakest noise slipped past her whimpering lips.

A quiet sob.

A sob, because everything was lost. 

Nothing could be done. The Clone Troopers, visibly affected by this, averted their gazes, no longer willing to watch, and grimly went back to their work, none of them uttering a single word.

Yet Hardcase found himself frozen in place, staring, wide-eyed. He could not turn away. He was mesmerized by this terrible show, this show of pain of hopelessness. 

He wanted to help the poor woman. He really did. He didn't want to just turn a blind eye like the rest of his company did. 

And that's when an idea crossed his mind.

A loud thud resonated as the shiny abruptly dropped his box, only to hurry into their starship, disappearing within its halls. Some soldiers had lifted their heads in surprise at this, but the crying woman was unfazed.

The ship's layout suddenly felt like a maze, with how furiously Hardcase's mind was working, obsessing over hispersonal little mission. His instincts were there to guide him though, thankfully, and it wasn't long before he found what he had come for. He dashed back down to the landing platform. 

On his way back, Hardcase was blinded with determination, accidentally bumping into his brothers along the way but not bothering with apologies. All he could see was the whimpering girl curled up next to the pretty pink blossom tree. 

Once the young soldier reached her, he fell down to his knees to meet her level, his free hand gently seizing her shoulder to get her attention. He spoke gently, making an effort to do sound friendly. "Hey." 

A stiffled sniff sounded before teary, blood-shot (e/c) eyes looked up at him slowly, hesitantly. Fearfully, even, as she scrambled backwards with a startled gasp. 

At first Hardcase was confused, until he remembered. The helmet. Perhaps he was of the Republic, but for people like her, who were caught between both sides of the war, there was no good or bad side. There was only fear. Plus, clone troopers were admittingly frightening to civilians.

"Easy now, it's okay." The man reached up to swiftly pull his helmet off, exposing his tanned skin, carved jaw and kind, gentle chocolate eyes. "I won't hurt you." 

Seeing his face did seem to soothe the woman, who ceased her backing away. She now remained still, looking up at him as she drank in his appearance. For the first time, Hardcase felt ever so slightly self-conscious about his tattoo. No one had ever so intently observed it before. Did she find it weird? Did it scare her? Or did she like it?

Ultimately, she said nothing of it. She said nothing at all, in fact. She merely sat up, instinctively bringing her legs close against her chest as she wrapped her arms around them. She wasn't crying anymore, and her shaking had stopped. But her lost expression was still there as she stared at her feet in a bitter silence.

The soldier hesitated for a moment, unsure on how to proceed. He'd never had to cope with this kind of situation before. In the end, he chose to hold a hand out to her, but immediately regretted it when she flinched at his sudden movement. His brothers and he were used to rougher, quicker gestures, but civilians weren't. Especially not terrorized ones. He had to remember that.

To make his intent clear and to avoid potentially scaring her again, the clone didn't bring his hand any closer. Rather, he spoke, "Here. This is for you."

The woman slowly and carefully lifted her head from her knees at his words. Her eyes scanned the package in the soldier's palm. Recognizing what was being offered to her, her eyes widened in shock. She brought her gaze back to him, hesitant and unsure.

He handed her a reassuring smile. "I insist." And with that said, he gently placed his ration onto her knees before pulling back a little to give her some space. 

She stared, no, gawked at the food she had been given. Looked back to him, mouth agape, and then back to the small package. Until finally, her voice laced with awe and gratitude, she shakily mumbled, "T-Thank you."

Hardcase gave a mere, curt nod before standing up, keeping his worried gaze down on the civilian. He watched her turn the ration over and over in her smooth, small hands, unable to believe it. Finally, she turned her head up toward him, the hair that had been hiding her face falling back onto her shoulders.

She was grinning. Grinning wildly, from ear to ear. Just like those children he had seen, but so much prettier, to his eyes. 

He had restored hope to a shattered soul. 

He couldn't help but grin in return.

Seeming to have regained her energy, the woman struggled to get to her feet. The soldier, without even thinking about it, was quick to intervene, holding out a helping hand to her.

She hesitated, but only momentarily, placing her smaller hand into his calloused one and allowing herself to swiftly be pulled up.

She handed him a grateful smile at this before her gaze timidly fell to the package she held in her hands. After a moment, she gently spoke, her voice stuffy from her crying. "I'm (Y/N)."

(Y/N). He liked the sound of it. The man briefly wondered whether or not it was legal for him to use his nickname instead of his service number to present himself, but didn't ponder on it for too long. He replied, his lips curled up ever so slightly, "I go by Hardcase."

At the sound of his name, (Y/N) lifted her head to meet his gaze again. Her eyes were twinkling like stars, full of gratitude and relief. "Thank you, Hardcase." 

After a small, eager nod from the soldier, the woman blinked affectionately at him. She started to turn to leave, but did so slowly, as if she were unsure she wanted to leave quite yet. Ultimately, though, she did leave, holding the ration Hardcase had given her close to her chest.

Yet, as she did so, the man noticed just the slightest movement, and his gaze flickered down to notice a pink flower on the ground. He eyed it for a few moments, confused, until it clicked in his mind; the flower had been in (Y/N)'s hair, and it had fallen.

He was swift to swipe it back up. It felt absolutely sacred in his hands as he bolted forward to grip the (Y/N)'s shoulder. "Wait. You dropped something."

Her (h/c) locks swished as she looked over her shoulder to him, confused. Although, as her eyes fell on the pretty little flower he was holding up to her, her cheeks adopted a cute pink hue. She turned to face him fully, gently taking the object from the trooper's gloved hands, before her gaze moved back up to meet his. There was something he couldn't quite figure out about the way she was looking at him. She seemed flustered, yes, about her mistake, but there was also a sort of glint to her eye... A glint of... Amusement?

But before he could quite ask her about it, (Y/N) turned away yet again, making her way toward the nearby town. She carefully tucked the ration into her armpit before working the flower back into her hair.

Oh, did it look so much prettier on her.

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback to improve my writing is appreciated, English isn't my first language! Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
